


The Biter

by thatsoccercoach



Series: Which Door? (Fluffy Fraser Fics) [59]
Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family, daily life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 19:58:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16960539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsoccercoach/pseuds/thatsoccercoach
Summary: Willa is going through an unfortunate phase and her victims, um, her family, isn't too happy about it.





	The Biter

                                                               

The twins were currently at a stage where they were incredibly unstable on their feet, yet highly mobile. If you blinked, one of them would be gone. Fergus had walked first, if you could call it walking at that point. Willa had been content just to sit and observe for the longest time. Then suddenly, they were both staggering around drunkenly, plopping onto their diapered bums, and banging their heads on things making everybody cringe. Claire felt as if there were baby gates in every single doorway of their home and she was forever climbing over one or another, dragging children behind her.

Lord John didn’t appreciate the current situation either and was presently expressing his distaste by whining behind one of the many barriers.

At present Faith and Bree were playing together in the front room, jumping around and twirling, wrapped in blanket capes with wands and crowns. Apparently “faerie dragons” was the latest game and Claire wasn’t about to disrupt their camaraderie to ask the details of what that actually meant.

Willa and Fergus, as per usual, were attempting to escape the confines of the very spacious, yet baby-gated room.

Jamie was at work but would be home soon, thank goodness.

And  _she_  was going crazy. All she wanted, the  _only thing in life_  that she wanted, was to shower. But that wasn’t happening because she couldn’t corral Fergus and Willa anymore.

She sighed and began to gather her hair into a messy bun on top of her head. She could sit with the kids until Jamie got home. Making it until then would be doable. Grabbing a board book that the twins were currently fascinated with, she began to walk toward the front room with the children when her ears were assaulted by a piercing scream that rent the air.  _Faith_. Faith who, though sensitive, didn’t scream over nothing.

She rounded the corner abruptly, scanning for blood or any other visible trauma to explain the noises coming from her typically placid oldest child. Faith stood rigid, clutching one hand in the other, trembling from pain or frustration Claire couldn’t yet discern. She dropped to her knees in front of the little girl.

“What happened, Faith darling?” she spoke with much more calm than she felt.

Faith bounced up and down on her toes, tears streaming down her face and teeth clenched. “Willa bit my hand.” She tentatively released the hand in question and extended it toward her mama.

“Willa Elizabeth Claire Josephine Fraser,” Claire said in a stern voice, turning to glare at her youngest daughter who promptly wailed and threw herself face down onto the hardwood floor.

She shook her head at the overly dramatic response from their curly-haired baby before her and turned her attention to Faith’s hand. Distinct tooth marks marred her pale skin in a rainbow arch, one of Willa sharp, new teeth having punctured the soft flesh on the back of her big sister’s hand.

Faith continued heart-breaking sniffles as tears rolled down her cheeks leaving shining trails behind on her flushed cheeks. She climbed onto her mama’s lap and curled into a ball smaller than ought to have been possible as defined by the laws of physics.

As Claire tenderly cared for their oldest, she spoke soothingly, asking questions. “Can you tell me what happened, lovey? Why do you think Willa did this?”

Faith took a shuddering breath. “Fergus had the wooden car that my Murtagh carved when Bree was a baby. Willa took it and then Fergus took it back. Fergus walked away from her but she followed him and took it again. I told her that she ought to share and she held out her arms like she wanted to hug me but she  _bit_  me!” cried Faith, clearly insulted and injured by her sister’s traitorous deception.

“I’m so sorry, darling. Willa is at an age where she is thinking through situations but she doesn’t have the words to explain them so sometimes she will just do unexpected things out of frustration. She can’t tell you that she wants the toy so she just took it. And she couldn’t tell you that she was expecting you to help, or do  _something_  her way, so she bit you.” She stroked Faith’s hair away from her face as they talked.

She also kept half an ear on whatever was going on in the other room. Hopefully, nobody else would get into trouble before she and Faith returned.

“It’s like when Bree was a baby and she’d scream over silly things. But I still don’t like it!” Faith exclaimed. “And I  _really_  don’t like having a sister who is so snuggly  _and_  frightening at the same time!”

“All little ones have their own quirks. You remember Brianna going through that time when she would scream and thrash about, throwing a fit over anything, but you yourself when through your own trying time too.” She tilted her head and looked at her daughter.

“What did _I_  do?” Faith asked, eyes round.

“Of all of you children, you were the clingiest. Auntie Jenny said it was because you were our only child. She took you for a day to try to get you to be more independent and that failed miserably. Even your cousins were unimpressed,” Claire laughed.

“Your da and I couldn’t do  _anything_  without having you in our arms at all times. Doing laundry, making breakfast, trying to tie our shoes, we either had to set you down and listen to you sobbing or hold you the whole while!”

“But,” Faith sputtered. “What about  _that_?” She pointed in the direction of the washroom.

“Like everything else, we either took you in there with us or listened to you cry.”

“But you musn’t have liked that at all!” Faith replied, distractedly rubbing her hand. “Why did you and Da have Bree then, if I was so fussy? And why did you have Willa and Fergus if Bree was so awfully cranky?”

“Well,” Claire held her arms out and Faith scampered into them. They went down the hallway back to the chaos together. “You know your da and I love one another, right? It’s more than you can even begin to imagine!” She snuggled her daughter close. “And you and your sisters and brother are gifts that came from that love.”

“So we-” Faith began. And was cut short by a scream.

Claire rolled her eyes and stood with Faith in her arms, even though their oldest was outgrowing being carried around like a baby. She’d tackle this new problem, whatever it was, and then Jamie would be home and he’d help. She could handle this.

Footsteps thundered and Bree rounded the corner with wide eyes. “Guess what? Fergus just bit  _Willa_!” she revealed. “And Willa is  _not_  happy about it!”


End file.
